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Asia aviation rankings: Malaysia close to overtaking Thailand, Philippines gaining on Hong Kong

Analysis

Asian aviation is growing strongly, with airlines expanding their seating capacity by 7.4% this month, well ahead of the global 6% increase, according to Innovata. The Indian Subcontinent is leading the Asian charge, while China is surprisingly down in 18th place in terms of Asian growth rates, with just a 5.2% increase in seats (domestic and international) this month.

Summary
  • Asian aviation is experiencing strong growth, with airlines expanding seating capacity by 7.4% this month, surpassing the global average of 6%.
  • The Indian Subcontinent is leading the growth in Asian aviation, while China's growth rate is surprisingly lower, ranking 18th in the region with a 5.2% increase in seats.
  • Seat capacity to and from Japan, Asia's second-largest aviation market, is contracting by 5.5% this month.
  • India and Indonesia are witnessing significant growth rates of 18.4% and 15.9% respectively, while South Korea is also experiencing double-digit growth.
  • Malaysia is closing in on Thailand to become Asia's sixth-largest aviation market, while the Philippines is on track to overtake Hong Kong as the eighth-largest market in the region.
  • Singapore completes the top 10 aviation markets in Asia, with a growth rate of 13.5%.

Seat capacity to/from/within Japan, Asia's second biggest aviation market, is contracting by 5.5% this month, while India and Indonesia are booming (up 18.4% and 15.9%, respectively). South Korea is witnessing double-digit growth, while Malaysia is edging closer to overtaking Thailand as Asia's sixth biggest aviation market. The Philippines is meanwhile within 34,000 weekly seats of overtaking (the international only) Hong Kong as the eighth biggest aviation market in the region. Singapore rounds out the Top 10.

Capacities to Asia - Seats per week by destination country (includes domestic, where applicable): May-2011 vs May-2010

Country May-2010 May-2011 % Change Growth
Rank
Ranking by Seats
Variance
May-2010 May-2011
China 7,060,042 7,428,871 5.2% 18 1 1 -
Japan 3,267,930 3,089,077 -5.5% 24 2 2 -
India 1,763,569 2,087,289 18.4% 3 3 3 -
Indonesia 1,270,038 1,472,175 15.9% 6 4 4 -
South Korea 944,124 1,059,576 12.2% 12 5 5 -
Thailand 790,613 883,825 11.8% 13 6 6 -
Malaysia 783,649 882,637 12.6% 11 7 7 -
Hong Kong 589,419 668,840 13.5% 9 8 8 -
Philippines 547,650 635,781 16.1% 5 9 9 -
Singapore 517,607 587,387 13.5% 8 10 10 -
Taiwan 475,624 528,377 11.1% 14 11 11 -
Vietnam 360,055 415,133 15.3% 7 12 12 -
Pakistan 194,992 206,936 6.1% 17 13 13 -
Bangladesh 96,174 92,053 -4.3% 23 14 14 -
Sri Lanka 62,736 78,992 25.9% 1 15 15 -
Nepal 62,178 63,001 1.3% 22 16 16 -
Macau 50,904 55,385 8.8% 16 18 17 +1
Myanmar 51,813 54,332 4.9% 19 17 18 -1
Cambodia 43,393 49,130 13.2% 10 19 19 -
Maldives 34,334 39,994 16.5% 4 20 20 -
Brunei Darussalam 23,017 23,361 1.5% 21 21 21 -
Laos 17,718 18,214 2.8% 20 22 22 -
Mongolia 8,873 9,745 9.8% 15 23 23 -
Bhutan 1,952 2,440 25.0% 2 24 24 -
GRAND TOTAL 19,018,404 20,432,551 7.4%

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